Batting Cages
by TheMooney42
Summary: Mac invites Stella to the batting cages. Along with the baseball mayhem, and some serious need of SMacked, I present you guys with some fluff...because we all know that we need it! Did I mention that there's rain?


**A/N:** **I was watching the X-Files (if you know what ep this is from, kudos to you guys)/ my Cubbies when this idea came into play. Baseball over load? Nah, never! SMacked, as always! Taking a little bit of time from my Together At Last fic, for this. Hope y'all enjoy! **

**Obviously sooo not mine, cus if they were...(insert evil naughty grin here)**

* * *

"Hey!"

Stella continued to look at the folder not hearing her name being called. She turned a corner too engrossed into the case. _Ok...so if he did that then the trajectory of the bullet would have been-_ suddenly she felt a firm secure hand on her shoulder.

"Stella, wait up" Mac said rushing to her side. Stella looked up as he tried to briefly catch his breath, bending down and placing both hands on his knees. He looked cute, she had to admit but just couldnt resist a good quip.

"You ok there? Doesn't seem that you have much stamina at the moment" she said pursing her lips.

Mac looked up from his bent position and glared at her. "Oh, I have plenty" he countered.

"Is that so?"

"Yes"

"Hmm...if you say so" she winked, "What was it that you wanted to tell me?"

"Oh!" he searched for it, scrunching up his face in concentration. "Oh um" he rubbed his eye, "I was wondering if you wanted to go to the batting cages with me"

Stella pondered for a minute. She had to admit what was she going to do at home? Watch movies, eating takeout? Who was she kidding; spending a couple of hours with Mac wouldn't hurt. After all, she secretly loved it when he was in his everyday attire. The day that the shootout occurred in the diner, she nearly bit her lip off as she watched Mac in his casual white shirt. Those muscles, his pecks. _Stop it Stella!_ A voice in her head screamed at her. Then finally, she made up her mind, trying to casually shrug it off. "Sure, why not. When? Today?"

Mac nodded the acceptance.

"Ok, sounds good. Pick me up at..."

"7?"

"Sounds good to me" she smiled at him.

"Ok" he turned on his heel to leave while she looked back down at the case file. "Don't forget to wear something that you'll be able to swing in" he threw over his shoulder.

All she could do was smile.

* * *

He didnt know why his stomach fluttered when he waited outside of her apartment. It was just Stella nothing more then good ole Stella. Although there was a piece of him that constantly tried to repress the feelings he had for her, what little was left of his feelings all went to one person. Stella. Her smile, flirty quips, those _curls_ and even those low cut blouses made him blush on the inside just as much on the out. Mac shook his head breaking his chain of though when he saw the curly haired bombshell walk up to the car door tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Mac gulped. His phone rang. Before answering it Stella had already taken a seat wearing her trusty trench coat, a tight black shirt with white lettering that read 'Yes, I eat. I'm Greek' with the two E's in the Greek alphabet and some faded jeans.

"You gonna get that?"

Mac laughed when he caught the sight of her shirt. "Yea, hold on"

"Hey Danny" he said in his typical Mac 'boss' tone.

"Hey Messer!" Stella said as she leaned forward, her face brushing Mac's lightly, sending a jolt throughout him.

Mac covered the phone over with his hand, his only defense, as his stomach fluttered. "Big people are talking Bonasera, no time for children"

She huffed a laugh and manage to sneak in a "Messer is very much a child" before taking her gloves off.

"No it's alright. I got something to do. Yes, i'll tell her you said hey...ok, alright Danny. Maybe some other time...really" Mean while Mac was on the phone Stella had been checking her complexion in the visor mirror twisting and turning her face checking for something, her fingers grabbing at small pieces of skin pushing it up and down. It wasn't that she was getting old, although, she did hate that small fact, she just secretly wanted to good look for Mac. Even at home when he would drop off a case file, and she would sit there in her pj's, Stella would cringe inward at how she was while he sat there, with his suit and tie nicely groomed.

Mac's phone clicked shut. "What are you doing?" he asked putting the car into reverse.

"Just checking if I looked alright" She smiled at him, forgetting the _'for you'_ part which played at the back of her mind.

"Don't worry Stell" he shifted the car into drive, "you look just fine" he said right before getting a smug smirk from her and driving off.

* * *

"Hey Mac!" The old man with snow colored hair greeted. He had a thick body covered in a white shirt with a plaid vest, jeans, and a white beard giving his crystal blue eyes more meaning. Mac walked up to him and gave him a firm handshake. "Jimmy I'd like ya to meet Stella Bonasera. Stell this is Jimmy"

Jimmy got up from sitting on the stool, wiped his hands down and extended his hand in a friendly greeting. "Hi"

"Hi" Stella greeted back. "Looks like you're kinda busy aren't ya?"

They looked around as groups of people swung at the blurs of balls of the 15 cage row. They turned back at each other.

"Yep. But this is nothin', Saturdays and Sundays a bunch of kids come by, keep business up ya know?"

"Yea, I hear you"

The man turned his attention to Mac. "You takin' your girlfriend out swinging Mac?"

Stella arched one eyebrow up as she tried to coolly suppress her inner giggle.

"We're not" he interjected. _But boy would it be nice..._

"Oh" the old man held his hand up in defense, "sorry, you guys just look great together. And I've heard Mackey here, talk about you all the time" Mac froze visibly hoping that for some odd reason Stella wouldn't have heard that. He looked down at his hands silently cursing to himself. He needed to seriously stop talking about Stella as if they were together, but smiled briefly at how it _would _feel to have her.

Stella glanced sideways at a crimson Mac. 'Mackey?' she mouthed. He gulped. 'Yea' was his only response. Their eyes locked. His hazel's mixing with her emerald eyes, sparkling beneath the stadium lights. Jimmy didn't want to clear his throat to grab their attention but noticed the visible tension between them.

"Sorry for holding you guys up" he said abruptly nearly tripping over a wire that stood in his path, "this one is on the house"

Jimmy went to the back of the small room to fetch what they needed while Mac and Stella stood there silently, both sneaking peeks at one another trying to figure out what to do next.

Jimmy came out and Mac went to go help him. "Here you go" He handed Stella a couple of bats in a bag. He looked at her in surprise; he had trouble lifting the bag, but was slightly amused at how such a skinny woman could contain so much power. From the story Mac had told him, she seemed like the strong independent type.

"Thanks again Jimmy" he heard and gave them both a smile.

He waved at Mac. "No problem Mackey, anytime"

They headed to their cage. Stella put down the bats against the cage and Mac went over to fence.

"Your gonna need one of those" he said pointing to a helmet hanging on the side of the cage with his bat. Mac opened the fenced door, stepped inside, and positioned himself ready for the balls. A blur passed by him and Stella giggled looking to see if Jimmy had seen it.

"Come on A-Rod, let's go"

Mac glared at her with a small smile on his face. "I'm from Chicago, you remember that?"

"Yea, yea, Cub boy lets go"

He laughed and twisted the bat with his right hand getting ready for the next pitch. The blur came, only this time, Mac swung skillfully and sent it to the nets above not being able to contain some sort of cockiness that came his way.

"You like that?" he said, twisting the bat again.

"Oooh yea" Stella said waggling here eyebrows. She had to admit, he looked extremely adorable. Mac to her had always had 3 types of wardrobes. His professional one, with the tie and suit, the one that he regularly had on for work, the casual one, with his typical jeans and white/black shirt and his i'll just throw this on in the morning type. For some odd reason she loved it when he wore it. His sweat pants were worn out till the point that the bottom had permanent dirt marks, his shoes were Nike as always, Stella made a mental note, a black shirt that left little to the imagination and a black hat that he had cocked on backwards with a slight tilt.

After a couple of more balls, it was Stella's turn to swing. She held the bats weighing each one. One in particular caught her eye, a navy and orange bat. She grabbed it, and stepped inside ready to swing.

Stella didnt even see the blur coming and swung way too late. "You better not say anything...Mackey". Mac chuckled. She positioned herself again and swung way too soon.

"Mac, I can't do this!"

"You could stomach a crime scene but you can't hit a ball?"

"Pretty much"

He twisted a knob to stop the balls from coming and stepped inside. "You're holding the bat the wrong way for one"

"I know how to handle a bat just not these kind" she smirked, "can you show me?"

Mac sighed. He didnt know why he felt like a school boy. Contact with Stella always made his pants go tight. He took a deep breathe and proceeded to move forward ignoring and hoping the tingling sensation in his pants would go away.

Slowly, he positioned himself in back of Stella wrapping his arms around her. She glanced back, his mouth a mere inch away from hers. She wanted to lean in and kiss him, but he leaned back slightly taking away the chance. "You put your hands here" his hands grabbed hers softly fixing them, "there" he whispered in her ear sending a chill down her spine, "your good"

A ball came and they swung at it together hitting it. She glanced back and smiled. Mac smiled back then shyly looked down.

"Mac"

"Yea?"

"I think..." before she could say anything a roll of thunder sounded far away sending the sky into a dark haze. A fat droplet of rain hit her shoulder making them both look at it, there eyes meeting momentarily as another one landed on Mac's cheek. She absently swiped at it with her finger, letting the bat roll a few feet from where they stood. Mac was about to kiss her when something went by them. They looked up to see another ball come roaring towards them, jumping in sync to move out of dangers way. The rain started to pour, soaking them slowly as people began to run towards their cars in pursuit of dryness.

"Come on, let's get out of here!" Mac managed to say over the pounding of the rain.

Stella looked at him one finally time, rain pouring down the front of his face, wetting his lips in preparation for her own. "Yea"

They began to dart, grabbing the bats in hand and managing to stuff them down the bag, becoming more and more difficult as it became wet. Mac ran over to Stella and grabbed her hand. "Come on! Were gonna get sick out here! I'll meet you at the car!" he said reaching into his pocket and fumbling with them. Stella reached out, hand cupping the top of her hairline as her hand brushed Mac's momentarily before running towards the small building.

"Jimmy" he said dumping the bag onto the counter.

"Yea" the man waddled towards him.

"I'll see you later"

"Alright Mackey. You take care! Tell Stella I said bye"

Mac smiled. "Will do"

He sprinted towards the car and got in to find Stella wrenching her curls from the water. He looked up at her and began to wipe down the water with his hand, twitching his hand so the small droplets landed on her. She mock scowled in amusement.

"Hey watch the seat" he teased pointing to the seat.

"Sorry" she said laughing, grabbing a curl and flipping it to him as he lifted a hand in a sign of defense. Mac just shook his head and shifted the car into reverse and with one final glance at what could had been, he shifted the car into drive.

They drove off in laughter.

* * *

They arrived at Stella's apartment, the car creeping its way to a slow halt. He suddenly felt uncomfortable again. Out of all the years of knowing Stella and the current situation that presented its self, led him to believe that

"I-"

"Um"

They looked at each other and laughed nervously. Mac gestured for her to go on, "I had fun Mac" she said simply.

"Sorry about that, I should have checked the weather" he said rubbing the back of his neck vigorously. Stella placed a tentive hand on his thigh making Mac look down from the heat emanating from her in such cold weather. "It's fine. Its New York" she said removing it momentarily but placing it back in the original spot once she made her point, "you had no way of knowing. And besides...since when do you believe the newscasters anyways?"

Mac laughed. "Your right"

Stella gave him a cocky smirk. "Aren't I always"

He pointed at her sideways. "Now you're just pushing it". Leave it up to Stella to bring enlightment to such a nerve racking conversation. She smiled at him and felt as if his heart was about to explode. He took a deep breath and licked his lips absently.

"Stel?"

"Yea"

"Back there..."

"Mac" she stopped him.

He looked up and suddenly, Stella's heart wrenching in pure aw. Mac was looking at her like the many little boys that she had encountered in her line of work. His eyes seemed teary, lips sucked in to a slit and a look of fear if she wasn't mistaken. "Mac" she repeated a bit forceful.

"Huh"

"Rain or not, that was the most fun I've had since forever" she reassured him. He didnt seem convinced. His eyes narrowed at her, a slight tilt in his gaze.

She needed something to prove her point, but couldnt think of what. A flicker of the eyes, and soon both of them were moving torture like slow in an attempt of a kiss. Mac's hand settled it's self behind Stella as her hand continued to occupy his thigh. His hands framed her face, feeling her soft skin beneath his fingertips as they continued their deliberate assault on each others lip. After a moment, they separated, a small smile visibly etched onto their faces.

"Is should um, be going" Stella said after a while.

"Yea" Mac said simply. He gradually let go of her face. Stella looked down as Mac noticed a visible blush. He tipped her chin up, his eyes widening in amusement.

"Never saw you make an impersonation of a lobster before"

"Hey" she smacked him playfully on the arm. Mac rubbed at it in mock hurt.

"I'll see you tomorrow then" she said smiling.

"Yea, see you"

With that she got out and headed to the entrance of the apartment. It seemed like forever until she finally got in. Once in she collapsed against the door, a huge sigh escaping her lips not knowing Mac was looking up at her apartment from his position in the car. He let out a deep breath and sighed, driving off with a huge smirk on his face.

* * *

**A/N: Hope you cats enjoyed. R&R...you LURKERS:P**


End file.
